Kicking toe



Feb. 26, 1957 G. D. FRAZIER ETAL KICKING TOE Filed March 1, 1955 Gum Imp D. fkfiz/ze and gmmn Z. (k /Mm A ORA/t Y5.

KICKING TOE Garland D. Frazier and Kenneth Z. Crawford, Crawfordsville, Ind.; said Crawford assignor to said Frazier Application March 1, 1955, Serial No. 491,358

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-25) It is the object of my invention to produce a toe-piece which can be applied to the shoe of a football player to increase the accuracy of place-kicking. A further object of the invention is to produce a toe-piece which can be used with shoes of different sizes and which can be quickly and easily applied to or removed from the shoe.

In carrying out the invention in its preferred form, I mold from rubber, synthetic plastic, or other appropriate material a generally U-sl1apedtoepiece having a generally plane front face and rearwardly projecting arms adapted to extend along the sides of a shoe-sole. The inner face of the toe-piece is grooved to receive the sole; and a cord attached to the rearwardly extending arms of the toe-piece and adapted to pass around cleats on the shoe-sole is provided for holding the toe-piece in place on the shoe. The material employed for the toepiece is reasonably hard so that the front portion of the toe-piece will not be distorted to an objectionable degree when it meets the football; but the material desirably possesses a measure of flexibility so that the rearwardly extending arms may bend and accommodate themselves to the soles of shoes of different widths.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred form of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan View illustrating the bottom of a shoe with the toe-piece attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is an elevation, in partial section, of the shoe with the toe-piece attached; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, I have illustrated the front portion of a football shoe having an upper 10, a sole 11, and a group of cleats 12 projecting downwardly from the sole. Such a shoe is in general used by football players.

The toe-piece illustrated in the drawing is of a general U-shape and is formed as an integral molding to provide a front portion 15 and rcarwardly projecting arms 16 and 17. The inner side of the toe-piece, including the arms 16 and 17, is smoothly curved to conform to the general shape of a shoe-toe in plan and is provided with a groove 18 adapted to receive the edge of the shoe-sole 11. Desirably, the lower wall of the groove 18 is wider than the upper wall to provide a flange 19 which underlies the shoe-sole for a substantial distance inwardly from the edge thereof. The width of the flange 19 should be such as will permit it to clear the outermost cleats 12 on the shoe-sole. The front face of the front portion 15 is generally plane and disposed to extend approximately vertically and transversely of the shoe. Such front face engages the ball; and to minimize slipping, the front face may be provided with corrugations 20, which preferably extend vertically.

For the purpose of attaching the toe-piece, I prefer to employ a flexible member which extends from the end of the arm 16 around one or more cleats 12, to the end of the arm 17. Desirably, such flexible member is elastically stretchable so that, without disconnecting either of its ends from the toe-piece, it can be stretched rates Patent Ofiflce 2,782,531 Patented Feb. 26, 1957 rearwardly to embrace one or more cleats 12 located rearwardly of the rear ends of the arms 16 and 17. The particular member shown in the drawing is an elastic cord 21 provided at each end with a pair of integral enlargements or abutments 22 spaced apart a distance sufficient to permit the reception between them of ears 23 and 24 which project outwardly from the rear ends of the arms 16 and 17. Such ears are provided with vertical slots 26 having a width slightly less than the diameter of the cord 21.

The enlargements or abutments 22 permit adjustment of the effective length of the cord 21, as either end of the cord can be inserted in its associated car 23 or 24 with either of the enlargements at the front of the ear. This arrangement makes possible the adjustment of the cord 21 to provide four different efiective lengths. Since the slots 26 have a width less than the diameter of the cord, the latter must be stretched to reduce its diameter when it is inserted into the slots 26. Upon release of the stretching effort, the cord expands and bears against the walls of the slot, thus holding itself in place.

The toe-piece is applied to the shoe by a rearward movement causing the edge of the sole 11 to enter the groove 18, and the cord 21 is then stretched to be engaged behind rearwardly located cleats 12. If the tension thus imposed on the cord is insufficient to hold the toe-piece securely in place, the cord may be shortened as above described; and if the tension is too great, the cord can be lengthened. Tension in the cord draws the rear ends of the arms 16 and 17 inwardly; and as those arms are flexible they may thus be seated against the sides of shoe soles of different widths.

The toe is desirably free from any portion extending over the toe-portion of the shoe-upper. This feature not only reduces weight and renders less cumbersome the shoe with toe applied but also contributes to the above mentioned flexibility of the arms 16 and 17.

We claim as our invention:

A kicking toe for ready application to and removal from a cleated football shoe, comprising a unitary body having a front portion for engagement with a football and two spaced rearwardly projecting arms adapted to extend along the sides of a shoe-sole, said front portion having a forwardly presented face of substantial extent transversely of the toe and lying substantially in a vertical plane, the inner face of said body, including said arms, having an inwardly opening groove for receiving the edge of the shoe-sole, and an elastic cord secured to said arms near the rear ends thereof and engageable behind cleats on the shoe-sole for releasably retaining the kicking-toe in position on the shoe, said arms being flexible and said front portion being of larger cross-section than said arms to resist distortion of said forwardly presented face when the arms are flexed in accommodating the kicking toe to shoe-soles of different width, at least one of said arms being provided near its rear end with a lateral projection having a groove running longitudinally of the shoe, the end of the cord having a pair of spaced abutments and being receivable in said groove with either of said abutments in engagement with the front face of said projection.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 3,314 Great Britain Jan. 13, 1888 1887 1,155 Great Britain Apr. 20, 1905 1905 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, page 26, January 1940. 

